outer cape environmental awareness newsletter issue 20

7/31/2019 Outer Cape Environmental Awareness Newsletter Issue 20

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This 20th issue of OCEAN focuses on SMART WATER, looking at some smarter ideas for usingwater resources. We are all connected by resources and that is no more evident that with wateresources, as an article in this issue confirms. Shared ideas, educated decisions, and collaborativesolutions protect both natural and financial resources. OCEAN is the environmental educationpublication of Safe Harbor Environmental Services. Thank you to our readers, who pass along thisnewsletter, and a most special thanks to Whitney Johnson of London, England, for her generous

contribution of effort and talent in the formatting and production of OCEAN.~ Gordon Peabody, Editor

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www.SafeHarborEnv.com May 11, 2012 No. 20

big oops For cold WeaTherpredicTionsm 2012 t 15,000 ttu :W v tt t.

A cold or colder winter was almost uniorm-ly predicted or the eastern hal o the US, whichhas just experienced the warmest, winter climate

anomaly in the northern hemisphere. March 2012was the warmest on record, breaking 15,000 cli-mate records.

Why werent these extreme patterns predictedand why did the Jet Stream keep the cold air pre-dicted or the eastern hal o the US, in the westernhal o the US?

Prediction services use past weather patternsto try and nd Trends (historic patterns) or u-ture predictions. As an example: Patterns o thePacic El Nio/La Nia atmospheric system mayseem to coincide with locations o the Jet Stream(storm track) crossing the US, which could suggest

a trend towards warmer or colder, wetter or drierweather. Trends may hold clues to predicting u-ture weather but they leave out some other majorplayers. Nine possibly signicant atmospheric sys-tems are located in the northern hemisphere. Eachsystem oscillates periodically between strong andweak phases. The linkages o these systems, in de-termining the location, strength and congurationo the Jet Stream as it circles the northern hemi-sphere, are reerred to as teleconnections.Faulty Predictions

Tornado and unstable atmosphere.


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The Jet Stream is a critical weather makerbecause it acts as an atmospheric ence betweencold and dry northern systems, and warm, moist

southern systems. These strong thermal and mois-ture dierentials on opposing sides o the Jet, con-tributed to this winters unprecedented Midwestweather events: swarms o deadly winter tornados;up to our eet o hail closing major highways;storms with 2,000 lightning strikes per hour; andin Wichita, Kansas, tornado swarms accompaniedby torrential rains and sotball sized hailstones(alling at nearly 100 mph) that fooded roads and

downed trees, blocking residents rom escapingand rescue personnel rom responding.

The single, correct prediction we ound came

rom a tropical analyst (http://www.spaghettimodels.com), who rarely comments on temperate zoneweather. He looked at the teleconnections infu-encing the Jet and acknowledged all the predic-tions but wryly concluded, I may be wrong but Idont think the rotation o the Earth would allowthat western, cold air mass to move east. So . . . itseems we have more to learn . . . .

Example of trends.


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Warmer WinTer ThreaTenscranberries

The cranberry is a Native American wetlandruit, which grows on trailing vines like a strawber-ry. The vines thrive on the special combination oacid soils and water properties. Cranberries growin beds that are layered with sand, peat and gravel.These beds are commonly known as bogs, origi-nally ormed as a result o glacial deposits. Cran-berries also require an extended period o cool

weather during their dormant period. Cranberrieshave what is known as a chilling requirement.This is the need or an exposure o 2000 hours at

temperatures below 45 F in order or the cranber-ries to properly develop fower buds and ruit, aswell as discourage an insect predator, the YellowHeaded Fireworm. We spoke with Dawn Gates-

Allen, the communications manager or Cape CodCranberry Growers Association and a 4th genera-tion grower. When the temperature reaches above

50 F the bogs are intentionally fooded becausethe water temperature is colder then the air.

Dawn said she couldnt recall there being a win-ter with temperatures this high. In 1994 and 1995there wasnt much snowall she said, but nevertemperatures like there have been this winter. Anarticle was recently published or NJ Spotlight per-taining to climate change and the threat to cran-berry bogs.

Source: Joe Tyrrell, Global Warming Seen as Threat to Gar-den States Cranberry Farms, NJ Spotlight: Where Issues Mat-ter, January 26, 2012, http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/0125/2303/.

Ugly TreasUre hiTs cape cod beaches

The only thing more surprising than discover-ing where millions o white plastic discs on CapeCod beaches came rom last summer, was thehorror o discovering the ugly truth about what

they actually were. The rst piece o this puzzle is

ound sixty miles north o Cape Cod, across Mas-sachusetts Bay and up into the Gul o Maine,at the coastal city o Newburyport, MA. At New-buryport, the Merrimac River empties into the

Gul o Maine, ater draining New Hampshire andfowing through northern MA. This river turnsout to be the second piece in our puzzle. Nearly75 miles upriver rom Newburyport, we nd theNew Hampshire town o Hooksett, about 60 miles

north o Boston. Hooksett, with a population o14,000, turns out to be the unlikely third piece o

Discs negotiated 70 miles of river and 60 miles of open Ocean.

Gulf of Maine currents.
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/0125/2303/http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/0125/2303/http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/0125/2303/


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our puzzle. The nal puzzle piece is within Hook-sett itsel, in the design o their sewerage treatmentsystem. Like many New England cities, Hook-sett uses an uncomortable and misleading term

that identies their type o system as CombinedStorm Overfow or CSO. This means that whenit rains, the rainwater fowing into street drains iscombined with sewerage and sent to a processingplant or treatment. The inherent Achilles heel inthe system becomes evident when it really rainsand storm water overloads the sewerage treatment

acility. Storm water overload triggers overfowvalves, bypassing treatment and the whole packageo sewerage and storm water is discharged, in thiscase into the Merrimack River.

As we mentioned, this is hardly unique but in thecase o Hooksett, an innovative system was in place.Small white plastic discs (at least 4.5 million) de-signed with an open grid, were being used to growbacteria that process sewerage. On March 6th o2011, there was a heavy rain, generating an overload

o storm water. At the Hooksett acility, the CSObegan discharging into the Merrimack River. Whatmade this event unique was the lack o a Fail Saeto protect the sewerage digester discs. Subsequentlyand with devastating ecological, social, and nan-cial consequences, millions o the approximately2-inch diameter bacteria laden discs were shot in-

to the Merrimac River with the CSO. Hooksettsproblem o oversight ailure now belonged tosouthern New Englands coastal resort communi-ties. For approximately 400 miles o coastline, romScarborough Maine to Matunuck Rhode Island,this tourist season would be unlike any other. Be-ore long, individuals all over the Cape and Islandswere collecting, reporting and puzzling over collec-tive tens o thousands o wayward discs. As Cape

Coders and tourists

realized the nature otheir unwelcome dis-coveries, the realityo discs travelling 75miles down river andnegotiating 60 mileso open ocean was alesson learned thatwe are all linked by ournatural resources.

Eorts have beenmade to recover thediscs but Cape Cod-

ers are still nding them. In September, WalterBaranowski was able to collect a lunch box ull odiscs rom Hatches Harbor in Provincetown. Rayand Walter Rowell walked a ew miles along theOcean beach this all and ound over 4 dozen discs.

The city o Hooksett is an easy target or criti-cism but in airness there are plenty o otherNew England communities using CSO systems.OCEAN Newsletter eels that presenting some bet-ter ideas that view storm water and sewer water asresources and not waste products would be a bet-ter use o our energy. OCEAN reers to these moresustainable ideas as Smart Water. Smart Wa-ter Systems oer social, ecological and nancialbenets byreducing, redirecting and reusingour waterresources. The next ew articles provide exampleso Smart Water.

Collected sewerage discs.

Hatches Harbor: unwilling repository.

Walter Baranowski with Hatches Harbor

Discs.

Ugly TreasUre Continued


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The ollowing links provide details o the discsystem and subsequent installation o a ail-saealarm system, one week ater the system ailure.

http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x198126727/Hooksett-N-H-taking-steps-to-prevent-another-disk-incident-in-Merrimack

Dry (Incinerating) Toilets use no water.

smarT WaTer: WasTeWaTer heaTrecoVery

Approximately one third o a homes energy

use heats water. All o this water rom the shower,bathtub, sink, washing machine or dishwasher(greywater) is wasted energy going down the drain.The installation o a wastewater heat recoverysystem captures the energy o the hot wastewaterto preheat cold water entering the water heater. Aheat recovery system within a residential drain sys-tem can recover as much as 70% o the heat andrecycles it back or immediate use.

Residential systems are designed with the con-cept o a fexible copper water line coiled aroundthe drainpipe. Copper is used because o its con-ductivity and heat can easily pass through it. Therecovery system raises the temperature o the in-coming cold water by recycling ree heat romwastewater going down the drain.Some helpful links for more information:

US Department of Energyhttp://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cm/mytopic=13040

American Water Works Associationhttp://www.awwa.org/publications/StreamlinesArticle.cm?itemnumber=53658

Public Utility Districthttp://www.clallampud.net/conservation/res_showerDrainwater.asp

Energy Savingshttp://www.wholebualo.com/reviews/dwhr+systems

Enviroharvest Inc.

http://www.enviroharvest.ca/heat_recovery.htm

EnviroSephttp://www.envirosep.com/WHR/waste

water-heat-recovery.html KEMCO Systems

http://www.kemcosystems.com/Water-System-Components/Wastewater-Heat-Recovery-Oper.html

Copper coils recover drain heat.

Ugly TreasUre Continued
http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x198126727/Hooksett-N-H-taking-steps-to-prevent-another-disk-incident-in-Merrimackhttp://www.eagletribune.com/local/x198126727/Hooksett-N-H-taking-steps-to-prevent-another-disk-incident-in-Merrimackhttp://www.eagletribune.com/local/x198126727/Hooksett-N-H-taking-steps-to-prevent-another-disk-incident-in-Merrimackhttp://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=13040http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=13040http://www.awwa.org/publications/StreamlinesArticle.cfm?itemnumber=53658http://www.awwa.org/publications/StreamlinesArticle.cfm?itemnumber=53658http://www.clallampud.net/conservation/res_showerDrainwater.asphttp://www.clallampud.net/conservation/res_showerDrainwater.asphttp://www.wholebuffalo.com/reviews/dwhr+systemshttp://www.wholebuffalo.com/reviews/dwhr+systemshttp://www.enviroharvest.ca/heat_recovery.htmhttp://www.enviroharvest.ca/heat_recovery.htmhttp://www.envirosep.com/WHR/wastewater-heat-recovery.htmlhttp://www.envirosep.com/WHR/wastewater-heat-recovery.htmlhttp://www.envirosep.com/WHR/wastewater-heat-recovery.htmlhttp://www.enviroharvest.ca/heat_recovery.htmhttp://www.wholebuffalo.com/reviews/dwhr+systemshttp://www.clallampud.net/conservation/res_showerDrainwater.asphttp://www.awwa.org/publications/StreamlinesArticle.cfm?itemnumber=53658http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=13040http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x198126727/Hooksett-N-H-taking-steps-to-prevent-another-disk-incident-in-Merrimack


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smarT WaTer: groUnd WaTer recharge

When we use wells to remove ground water orresidential and other uses, we should contribute to

the sustainability o our ground water resource byrecharging the same aquier. Rainwater would nat-urally recharge this resource but land developmentdetours the recharge process. Impervious suraces

such as buildings and streets interrupt rainwa-ter. This collected water creates potential, smallscale fooding. Municipalities respond by build-

ing street drains, oten linked to their seweragesystem. When rainstorms overload that system,as happened in Hooksett, NH on March 6, 2011,

the entire, combined system (CSO) overfows intoother water resources.

OCEAN newsletter is an advocate or developingsustainable, ground water resources using rechargesystems. Storm water may not always need expen-sive inrastructure. MA Smart Growth and LID

guidelines recommend capturing storm water closeto the source. OCEAN recommends low cost, lowprole and low maintenance, gravity driven systemsor recharging the resource. The simplest rechargesystems are swales (grassy or planted depressions)or roads with crowns or 2-degree side angles. Resi-dential dry wells (downspout leaders led away rom

oundations) are 2050 gallon sized, stone lled,underground recharge systems. Either o these 2 ba-sic systems can be modied to scale. Driveways canuse open matrix pavers and parking areas can usepermeable pavement. The Good Neighbor StormWater Booklet booklet is a ree publication o SaeHarbors Education Initiative (see link below).

Some helpful links for more information:

http://www.cityopaloalto.org/depts/pwd/

food_storm/stormwater_rebates/deault.asp http://saeharborenv.com/2010/10/03/good-

neighbor-storm-water-booklet-now-available/

Use Storm Water for Gardens.

Permeable driveway pavers.
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/depts/pwd/flood_storm/stormwater_rebates/default.asphttp://www.cityofpaloalto.org/depts/pwd/flood_storm/stormwater_rebates/default.asphttp://www.cityofpaloalto.org/depts/pwd/flood_storm/stormwater_rebates/default.asp


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smarT WaTer: groUnd WaTer recharge Continued

PERMEABLE PAVEMENTKeep Storm Water on Site

smarT WaTer: reUse, sink To ToileT

Do our water resources seem so unlimitedthat we willingly use drinking water to fush ourtoilets? This counter intuitive practice deservesre-examination. With plenty o Sink to Toiletwater reuse systems available, maybe its time to

move orward?Some helpful links for more information:

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/815/

http://www.treehugger.com/bathroom-design/watersaver-technologies-aqus-uses-sink-greywater-or-toilet.html

Save water by re-use.

carbon capTUre

OCEAN congratulates Stanord University Pro-essor Dr. Jennier Wilcox, a Chemical Engineer,on the Publication o her long awaited book Car-bon Capture. This comprehensive textbook on car-bon dioxide capture, the rst one ever, has arrived

at a pivotal moment. Removing carbon dioxiderom gas mixtures in new and cheaper ways is thekey to an energy system responsive to the threat oclimate change yet respectul o the merits o coaland natural gas. Wilcoxs book will usher a newgeneration o students into this critical eld, saidDr. Robert Socolow, Princeton University. Usethis link to get a copy: http://www.springer.com/chemistry/book/978-1-4614-2214-3
http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/815/http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/815/http://www.springer.com/chemistry/book/978-1-4614-2214-3http://www.springer.com/chemistry/book/978-1-4614-2214-3http://www.springer.com/chemistry/book/978-1-4614-2214-3http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/815/


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smarT WaTer: WasTe To energy, rockeTFUel From seWerage?

Many communities are already consideringharvesting methane rom treatment plants butwe ound a real eye opener while visiting StanordUniversity this year. We were ortunate to meet Dr.Criddle, Proessor o Civil and Environmental En-gineering, who has been studying the most incred-ible wastewater to energy concept along with Dr.Cantwell, Proessor o Aeronautical Engineering,and Graduate Student Yaniv Scherson: Convertingsewerage to nitrous oxide rocket uel. Cantwell de-

veloped a propulsion engine that uses nitrous ox-ide. When asked to explainthe mechanics o his system,Dr. Cantwell says, When itdecomposes, nitrous oxide

breaks down into pure ni-trogen and oxygen gas. Atthe same time, it releasesenough energy to heat anengine to almost 3,000 de-grees Fahrenheit, making itred hot, and it shoots out othe engine at almost 5,000

eet per second, producing enough thrust to propel

a rocket. The unusual combination o space pro-pulsion and environmental biotechnology startedin 2008, when one o Dr. Cantwells graduate stu-dents, Yaniv Scherson, embarked on his doctoralthesis. We wondered whether nitrous oxide couldbe exploited as an emissions-ree source o energy,Dr. Cantwell says, nostalgic look in his eyes. Since

the product o the decomposition reaction is sim-ply oxygen-enriched air, energy is generated withzero production o greenhouse gas. But rst weneeded to nd a cheap, plentiul source o nitrousoxide. Eventually, Scherson turned to Dr. Criddle,a known expert who thoroughly understands thesubject o microbial communities in wastewatertreatment plants. He says that wastewater sludgecontains bacteria that naturally convert nitrogenwastes into nitrous oxide. Updates to ollow!

Some helpful links for more information: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Resi

dents-supportive-o-sewage-to-energy-converter-3439329.php

http://news.stanord.edu/news/2010/july/waste-072610.html

http://www.brazil.raunhoer.com/en/projects_in_brazil/energy_recovery_romsludgegasesatamunicipalsewagetreatmentplant.html

beeTles birTh eXplosion pUTs TreesUnder sTressb s n. b

Published April 16, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/science/beetles-birth-explosion-puts-pine-trees-under-stress.html.

Mountain pine beetles attack and kill weak pinetrees, boring into bark to lay their eggs. They at-tack the trees in hordes, and their larvae eed o

ungi in the trees. Now the beetles are reproducingtwice a year instead o once, and millions o treesare dying as a result.

The beetle species is several million years old,and historically larvae grow to be adults in July or

August every year. But it has been getting warmerearlier in the year, and larvae mature aster andemerge as early as May. These new beetles thenimmediately lay eggs, and a second generation o

adult beetles emerges as early as July because sum-mers are so warm, said Scott M. Ferrenberg, an evo-lutionary biologist at the University o Colorado atBoulder and an author o a study in the comingissue o The American Naturalist.

The researchers did their work at Niwot Ridgein Boulder County at an elevation o 10,000 eet.

According to Mr. Ferrenberg, several decades agopine beetles were not ound at that elevation. Theinvasion o that habitat above 9,000 eet has hap-pened ater several decades o signicant warm-ing, he said. He called the beetle phenomenon anepidemic, not limited to mountain pine beetles.Other trees are also under stress rom other specieso beetles. Spruce beetles and Douglas r beetlesare at epidemic levels, he said. And southern pinebeetles, typically ound in the American South, aremoving north. People are nding outbreaks inNew Jersey, Mr. Ferrenberg added.

A wastewater to rocket fuel.
http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Residents-supportive-of-sewage-to-energy-converter-3439329.phphttp://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Residents-supportive-of-sewage-to-energy-converter-3439329.phphttp://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Residents-supportive-of-sewage-to-energy-converter-3439329.phphttp://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/july/waste-072610.htmlhttp://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/july/waste-072610.htmlhttp://www.brazil.fraunhofer.com/en/projects_in_brazil/energy_recovery_fromsludgegasesatamunicipalsewagetreatmentplant.htmlhttp://www.brazil.fraunhofer.com/en/projects_in_brazil/energy_recovery_fromsludgegasesatamunicipalsewagetreatmentplant.htmlhttp://www.brazil.fraunhofer.com/en/projects_in_brazil/energy_recovery_fromsludgegasesatamunicipalsewagetreatmentplant.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/science/beetles-birth-explosion-puts-pine-trees-under-stress.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/science/beetles-birth-explosion-puts-pine-trees-under-stress.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/science/beetles-birth-explosion-puts-pine-trees-under-stress.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/science/beetles-birth-explosion-puts-pine-trees-under-stress.htmlhttp://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Residents-supportive-of-sewage-to-energy-converter-3439329.phphttp://www.brazil.fraunhofer.com/en/projects_in_brazil/energy_recovery_fromsludgegasesatamunicipalsewagetreatmentplant.htmlhttp://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/july/waste-072610.html


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bUilding a beTTer moUseTrap

We recommend viewing this short video ex-plaining the dierences between traditional pro-peller technology and what may be a better idea.FloDesign Wind Turbine represents another

transdisciplinary energy system, based on jet en-gine technology (see Smart Water: sewerage torocket uel on page 9). http://www.alternative-energy-news.ino/wind-turbine-concept-jet-engines/

FloDesign Wind Turbine: Waltham, MA 02453p: (781) 609-4700 : (781) 609-4701. For all inqui-ries, please contact www.dwt.com.

ocean adVocaTes Use oF biodegrad-able groUnd sTaples

Many Conservation Commissions already re-quire ground staples made rom plant-basedmaterial (derived rom wheat and potato starch).They break down through natural microbial ac-tivity into carbon dioxide, water and compost.

They maintain holding power or 18-months be-ore degrading. Moisture and temperature con-trol biodegradation so time rame may vary (6stakes, 500/box $100). http://www.catalogclearance.com/products/greenstakes__dewittgardenweedbarrier.html.

Looking inside a better idea.

Manageable design with improved performance.

The next issue, OCEAN 21, will document theperormance o Sae Harbors innovative BIO-

MIMICRY Coastal Restoration System, whichrestored over 12 vertical eet o sand elevation in abarrier dune restoration, in just over one year.

Biodegradable ground staples.

Dune Restoration using Biomimicry
http://www.catalogclearance.com/products/greenstakes__dewittgardenweedbarrier.htmlhttp://www.catalogclearance.com/products/greenstakes__dewittgardenweedbarrier.htmlhttp://www.catalogclearance.com/products/greenstakes__dewittgardenweedbarrier.htmlhttp://www.catalogclearance.com/products/greenstakes__dewittgardenweedbarrier.html

outer cape environmental awareness newsletter issue 20

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